9/14/17 Sprung from the LCW, same mission in Spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, with charisms of the Holy Spirit "..to bring good news to the poor, liberty to the captives.." for battered women and children of foreign descent. Go to: Lambcatholic.blogspot.com,
EMAIL:lambcatholic@gmail.com.
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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Hana at Carey

The Lamb Catholic Worker

Fall 2014 Newsletter

"We Want Peace! We Want Peace!"

-An Iraqi-American Catholic woman at the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation, Carey, Ohio August 14, the Vigil of Feast of the Assumption of Mary

By Monica Siemer

Chaldean Masses (about 10 in one day) at Our Lady
of Consolation Shrine in Carey

Beautiful "halo" around Fr. John Stowe and my friend, Hana,
not seen through the lense, but appeared in the picture

I had the priviledge of accompanying a dear Syrian Muslim friend, Hana, who has lived in the United States for 20 years (and was my former instructional assistant in my ESL classroom) to the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Consolation in Carey, Ohio on the vigil of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, August 14. This was a very special day, a day of the "Chaldean masses," about 10 masses in the upper and lower chapels, to celebrate this special Marian feast day vigil for the Iraqi and other middle-eastern Catholics that live in several states nearest to this most holy shrine to Mary. They have a special love and affinity for our Lady and I am amazed at the outpouring of love that the Franciscans there extend to this most beloved community, especially in light of the heavy persecution going on in parts of Iraq right now.

I took my friend, Hana, because she is a walking miracle, attributed to the heavy-duty intercessory prayers of Mary, or "Mariam" to the Muslim world, Jesus' mother, Dorothy Day, and Peter Maurin. She was told two years ago, August of 2012, by Mt. Carmel doctors (a Catholic hospital) that she could have no more chemo and radiation and to make her [final] arrangements. Previously, at about 35, she had had breast cancer, surgery, radiation, and chemo, and went to Haj at Mecca (because her case was so serious). Approximately 1 and a half to two years passed where she felt she had been healed.

In late 2012 though, it had come back with a vengeance, to her brain (paralyzing half of her face so that she could not consciously shut her left eye nor smile with the left side of her face), her bones, her liver and her thyroid glands. This was very late stages cancer, and once it gains in the soft tissue of critical areas, it grows quickly. At this time I asked her to ask Mariam, or Mother Mary, for help to bring it before God (our Catechism teaches that it is the same God as Christians, Muslims, Jews, etc. Also, "Allah" is simply the word for "God"), and to ask for Dorothy Day's prayers as well, to help attain her canonization. I asked her to go to Carey then, but she had switched doctors to Ohio State University cancer hospitals and was given new chemo (even though they said the same thing).

Coworkers from Cranbrook Elemen at chemo with Hana
Dec. 2012, Face half paralyzed, I am at right

Finally, by December of 2012 when Hana could not go to Carey after repeated attempts, I went in proxy for her and Fr. John Stowe prayed over my body in place of hers for her healing, and involved the other Franciscans in praying heavily for her, asking Mary and Dorothy Day's intercessory prayers. They have a lot of time to pray (seven times a day!). I also obtained the amazing holy water from Carey too. She used it every day, and in five months, she was still alive, her liver cancer had shrunk in half, and her face was no longer paralyzed. She could shut both eyes at will and with effort, smile, although the paralysis had caused some permanent damage so it was with difficulty.

Satan had continued to bite at her heals, as he has all along (to mine as well), and a spinal tumor grew and paralyzed her whole leg in June of 2013. She and I had lulled a little in daily pleading her case to Mary and Dorothy, and she had run out of holy water and did not tell me. I raced to get more holy water (this time from Christ the King), and we asked Peter Maurin's intercessory prayers as well. Msgr. Mottet, overseeing this community, has always prayed that Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, co-founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, would be canonized together. Dorothy always said that Peter founded the Catholic Worker, not her, and that it was his vision, his ideas, his everything. He only lived to see it take off for 15 years while she did for almost 50 (and as a prolific writer). People attribute the Catholic Worker solely to her, but both need to be honored for their holiness.

The doctors have been saying for that past year or so that my friend still has the cancer but that she is a "Mystery," a "Mystery..." Why will this woman not die, really! I said, "You are another "M" word; you are a MIRACLE!"

The beauty in all of this is that while she is a practicing Muslim, Our Lady, "Mariam," has looked down upon her with great love just as she is, as she does to all in the world. All can come to this most amazing vessel of love and motherliness. In fact, Fr. Emmanuel Bertrand, a Dominican missionary to Pakistan (for over 40 years) in community with the Dominicans at St. Patrick and St. Thomas Aquinas in Zanesville has visited nearly all the mosques in Pakistan and said that 100% of them have a statue to "Mariam," or Jesus' mother. They honor and revere her sometimes more than Catholics do! It is also moving that Mary chose to visit, or God chose to send her, to a city named after a very holy Muslim woman, one of Mohommed's daughters, Fatima. Interestingly, Mother Mary was once quoted at Medjugorie as stating: "The holiest woman in this city is a Muslim. She gets down on her knees every day in humility, ...." Finally, it is exquisite that Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, genuine peacemakers who TRULY believe in the sacredness of ALL human life and lives are to be possibly canonized in part by a miracle of a practicing Muslim woman. It is beautiful, then that my friend wants to tell people about "this place."

The first thing greeting my friend as we approached the actual basilica was the most, most beloved Fr. John Stowe who has prayed for her ceaselessly.

While she did not want to go into the upper church during a mass, she wanted to go into the basement to see evidence of the many, many miracles that have happened through Mary's intercession. When I was a child, the large basement was overflowing with these, but they have limited them to a few cases.

Outside, she witnessed gentle, holy older Franciscans, mostly with grey beards, hearing confessions and giving council to people in numerous stations around the lawn. She rested on the bench outside, having undergone hours of chemo that morning, to the powerful and booming voices through the windows, of the Chaldean Catholics inside singing praises. She witnessed another religion not her own, that also ministered and guided people.

We had been approached at one point, in the midst of the Arabic being spoken all around her from approx. 20 van lines of out-of-state middle-eastern Catholics, by an Arabic-speaking woman. She stated emphatically and almost woefully, "We want peace! We want peace!" It was probably the fervent prayer inside as well. I am thinking this may be because the U.S. is sending more troops into Iraq and planning to bomb certain places. She seemed desperate to say not to have that war mentality again that desecrated their home country once.

Her desperation reminded me of a conversation my father, Tom Siemer, had with Archbishop Oscar Romero less than a year before he was assassinated. We were at a synod of all of the cardinals and bishops of the world in Mexico City, I believe it was in 1979 when I was 16 yrs old (and I was there but standing away from him). We were appealing to Pope John Paul II for Catholics to be told to have no part in weapons of mass destruction (manufacturing, handling, potential use, etc). Archbishop Romero thought my father was from the press (with his "Press" badge) and begged and begged him to go back and tell the president (Carter at the time, who gave $5 million per year in "military aid") to stop funding the government with military money, which was being used against the people.

He explained that the money went into armaments and training of the soldiers in the military and in the juntas of the oligarchy who were terrorizing the campesinos, killing and mutilating many of them.

My father called over both Roy Larson, of the Chicago Sun and Ken Briggs of the New York Times to talk with him. Ken told my father later that Romero would not live long by talking like that, and my father replied, "They would never kill an archbishop!" Our government not only did not listen, but when President Ronald Reagan became president, shortly after, he quintupled the funding, giving a huge green light to those committing atrocities. Archbishop Oscar Romero was martyred within a year. The U.N. reports that over 75,000 people, many poor women and children, were killed over the course of the next decade or so in El Salvador.

In front of the Synod, Mexico City, 1979, with a group of protesting mothers of the "Disappeared" in El Salvador. I am at the right and my mother, Dorothy Siemer, at the far right in red pants.

Salvadorean mothers of the "disappeared," those whose tortured bodies were never found. I am on far right, with literature for the Pope, cardinals, bishops, and press against weapons of mass destruction

Mothers of the "disappeared" (sons, husbands, brothers, etc) desperate for help from the Church.

My father, Tom Siemer, and I in Mexico City, 1979

A few years later I worked at the Center for Peace Studies at Georgetown University with Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. At that time another Georgetown professor, Dr. Jean Kirkepatrick, who was a campaign advisor to President Reagan then cabinet member, blamed the murders (Dec. 2, 1980) of the three religious sisters and an American lay worker on themselves for even being there with the poor: Jean Donovan, Sr. Maura Clarke, Sr. Ita Ford, and Sr. Dorothy Kazel. Kirkpatrick believed that, according to Noam Chomsky, "traditional authoritarian governments are less repressive than revolutionary autocracies," and so her views were put into practice "most clearly in Central America, by supporting the Contra rebels in Nicaragua, and the military juntas in Guatemala and El Salvador, all of which perpetrated massive human rights violations while countering a perceived communist threat." (Chomsky, Turning the Tide, 1985). She was not too thrilled when the United Nations Security Council came down on the United States and she talked of withdrawing much of the monetary support to the U.N., as well as for the United States to withdraw completely. This would have been quite a role model of genuine virtue, Christian values, and peace to the world.

I witnessed firsthand large graphic close-up pictures being sent to the Center for Peace Studies at Georgetown University (that I helped Fr. Richard McSorley, S.J. run in the 80's) from El Salvador. Neutral brave witnesses and groups were trying hard to document the atrocities and sent these pictures to several places as documentation, including to ours. Prior to the Reagan Administration, the bodies of the dead at the hands of the military and juntas had one form of killing done to them (besides the women always having been raped). As Fr. McSorley always said, "When you choose the lesser of two evils, you soon forget you chose evil in the first place." There is always a third choice.

When Ronald Reagan became president, and particularly after the stepped-up "anti-communist counterinsurgency training," or terrorist/guerilla warfare training ("terrorist" in the true sense of the word) at Ft. Benning of "Latin American personnel" from El Salvador at the U.S. Army School of the Americas, now called Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), things drastically changed. To describe, murdered victims appeared with three or four forms of torture performed, acid in the eyes being one of the favorites. This spilled over to Honduras and Nicaragua as well, sadly.

Many Americans turned a blind eye to all of this because of the fear whipped up by those who would even sell their soul to the devil against the "Communist scare." The same whipping up of hate and suspicion, and angst has been set in our country against African Americans after the Civil War, Irish Catholics in the early 1800's, and now, against Muslims both living in our country and beyond.

Most of the refugees at our Catholic Worker in D.C. witnessed much of this firsthand, and yes, it was the country's military doing much of it. Huge Carlos witnessed a savage group murder from a corn field, and when he tried to run, they caught a visual of him and hunted him down. He and his wife Maria (pregnant) got their six other children to another part of the country and ran to the U.S. where they were the first Salvadoreans to be granted political asylum. Their baby Leonardo was baptized with my first son, Shamus, at our Catholic Worker, St. Francis Catholic Worker, in Washington, D.C. (now the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker), in a Catholic worker soup pot. It had been the former mother house of the Trinitarian order, and they had a fully functioning chapel in the basement.

Very sadly in parts of Iraq right now Christians being severely persecuted. They are "marked" on their doors or gates as Christian and are given time to convert to Islam or be forced to leave, or even killed. More than 500 have been killed so far. Many must take only what they can carry or what they are wearing. The following is a recent prayer written by Lous Rafael Sako, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq, and read last Sunday across the United States according to directions from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops :

"Lord, the plight of our country is deep

and the suffering of Christians is severe and frightening.

Spare our lives and grant us patience and courage

to continue our witness of Christian values

with trust and hope.

Peace is the foundation of life;

Grant us the peace and stability that will

enable us to live with each other ... with

dignity and joy.

Glory be to you forever."

At the Lamb Catholic Worker, our prayers are for the Christians and for the Muslims of Iraq, both at great danger right now, for the love and peace of God to reign in their hearts as brothers and sisters of one God. We pray for the persecutors, for their salvation and for an open heart to respect and love those of another religion who nevertheless are as made in God's image and likeness as they are. May all of us intervene in our prayers and in moral responses, pleasing to the Lord. May we, as Pope Francis has preached so passionately about, not be a part of two great evils in the world today: "the culture of indifference and the culture of distraction." May we set aside our computers and cell phones for much more time spent in prayer and meditation. They say, "Satan doesn't make you bad, he makes you busy."

I pray that we not ignore the pleas for peace of this desperate Iraqi-American Catholic woman, who could possibly have Christian relatives still there, yet who knows the sick and hideous bloodiness of bombings and war. She is more worried about the U.S. response than even the persecution by extremists in a remote pocket of Iraq. I pray that we listen to this pleading, holy woman at Carey. Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us and for Iraqi people of all kinds! Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and Archbishop Oscar Romero, please pray for them!

My Father, Tom Siemer, and Dom Helder Camara, 1978

OUR NEEDS:

Our greatest need is prayer and thankfulness for the more than 22,000 views on this site from over 80 countries. Interestingly, the highest numbers are coming from the Ukraine right now. God be with them all. Please read our article about becoming a "sick and suffering co-Catholic Worker." We need that level of prayer and sacrifice to get this off of the ground, like Blessed Mother Teresa whose ministry could not start without those valiant ones who offered up their physical, psychological or emotional suffering for her and her ministry. Please consider this! :) We will in turn pray for you as well.

We need workers in the field, those who feel they are at a point in their lives to make a life change completely, to throw off their old life and live as the early Church in "profound poverty, profound joy," and solely being instruments of God's love and peace to the world. Eventually we will have community members of varying degrees of commitment, but for now, we need full-time ones

We also need funds to buy the properties in order to help us get started. This is a huge task. Any way that you could help us would be greatly appreciated, even simply praying and spreading the word! We have a fully approved 501c3 nonprofit number if you feel you need this. Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin encouraged all giving though to be a full sacrifice with no strings attached for the giver. It is still a sacrifice though, even if part can lower ones taxes a little.

One last note is that we have a potential "relic" given to us by Dorothy Day's grandaughter, Martha Hennessy. It is a part of a blue blanket she had crocheted for a grandson. Martha placed it inside a seashell, which is touching because Dorothy so loved and meditated while on the beach. Dorothy and Peter, please continue to pray for us.

One final note is that Bishop Richard Pate of Des Moines, Iowa and a contingent of 11 other bishops are going to the Holy Lands to pray and be a presence for peace in the Middle East. This is soon to be announced nationally. Pray for them! Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for peace, for these most dear peacemakers, and for all peoples of Iraq.

The Lamb

Catholic Worker Pledge and Prayer

O God, help me to valiantly live out the teachings of your Son, Jesus Christ, and of those He has passed down through His Bride, the Roman Catholic Church, so deeply revered by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin. Through the intercessory prayers of Your dear mother, Mary, and of her beloved spouse, St. Joseph the Worker, patron saint of the Catholic Worker, I pledge to make the work of my hands this day, no matter how small, a life prayer of loving sacrifice to You. Fill me with Your inner peace toward all I meet today. Amen.

(note: Dorothy Day emphasized: "If you are not going to be obedient to the Catholic Church, then take 'Catholic' off of your banner.")

Patron Saint of the Catholic Worker

Daily Prayer to St. Joseph for Purity and Daily Pledge

One of the prayers a priest uses to bless the St. Joseph Purity cords:"God, the lover and restorer of innocence, we pray that Thy faithful who are to wear this cincture [cord] may, by the prayers of Saint Joseph, spouse of Thy Holy Mother, have their loins girded and hold burning lamps in their hands, and thus be likened to men and women who wait for their Lord when He shall return for a wedding, that when He comes and knocks the may open to Him, and be found worthy of being taken into everlasting joys; through Thee who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen."

PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH FOR PURITYGuardian of virgins, and holy father Joseph, to whose faithful custody Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, were committed; I pray and beseech thee, by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, that, being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart, and chaste body, ever serve Jesus and and honor Mary most chastely all the days of my life. Amen.

DAILY ADDITIONAL PLEDGE OF PURITY for those living in The Lamb Catholic CommunityFor single people of all ages and walks of life (including religious):Let this holy cord be a constant reminder of this daily pledge to be celibate in mind, heart, and body all the time without exception; and to remind me to pray for others. May our purity be upheld by and for the glory of God.For married people:Let this holy cord be a constant reminder of this daily pledge, as a spouse, to be chaste in mind, heart, and body all the time without exception; and to remind me to pray for others. May our purity be upheld by and for the glory of God.

When you belong to a confranternity, you have entered into a circle of people who are praying for you in your moment of weakness or temptation as you are for all who wear the St. Joseph Purity Cord. You have your back covered!

Luke 12:34-35 "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands." Pray for the 17,000+ viewers interested in these prayers (as of Dec. 27, 2013).

How to Pray the Rosary Daily as Mother Mary Asked at Fatima (for world peace)

One way to pray the Rosary is to focus on the WORDS of the rosary (much slower pace, typically), which is self-explanatory.
Another is to meditate on the MYSTERIES of the Rosary, typically done at a medium, rhythmic, natural pace. Here you are focusing on the words of the few prayers at the beginning, end, and between the actual mysteries: the Creed, Our Father, initial Hail Mary, Glory Be, Hail Holy Queen, Memorare,The Rosary Prayer, etc. Within the rosary though, after announcing each of the 5 individual mysteries of a set (which is always done), you deeply meditate upon that mystery of the rosary itself, or scene from the life of Christ and of Mary by putting yourself in them while rythmically saying the 10 Hail Marys and fingering the beads. Doing something simple and rhythmic frees up your spirit and "monkey mind" as St. Therese de Lisieux called it - our minds that jump all over the place when trying hard to concentrate on one thing. By keeping it's more "automatic" side busy (that, say, drives a car without thinking while carrying on a conversation in the car) in a simple way, this frees it to focus clearly with newer heights of meditation and prayer. Thomas Merton especially emphasized this level of meditation (of repetitious prayers, prayer beads, and extremely deep meditation), which is in many major religions and religious people. Even though major mystics typically employed less words to enter into deep meditation, it has this effect time and time again. Not all can meditate upon the MYSTERIES of the Rosary - doing two things at once - which is fine.
Mother Mary asked at Fatima if we would pray the rosary daily for world peace. There's always new insights if you open your heart and soul, especially when asking the Holy Spirit to come and pray with you! Please see the new column in the bottom right margin called, "Being There: Putting Yourself in the Rosary Scenes." As you have newer insights (you will!) you may send them to us to share at: thelambcatholicworker@gmail.comTHE ROSARY PRAYER
In addition to the "Hail Holy Queen," at the end of the Rosary, as seen on most Rosary pamphlets and the "Memorare" ("Remember O most gracious virgin Mary, that never was it known, ..."), another wonderful end-of-Rosary prayer, is "The Rosary Prayer," an older powerful one - especially if you are the type to meditate on the actual mysteries during the Rosary:
THE ROSARY PRAYER
O God, whose only begotten Son,
by His life, death, and resurrection
has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life;
grant, we beseech Thee,
that while meditating upon the mysteries
of the most holy Rosary
of the blessed virgin Mary,
we may imitate what they contain
and obtain what they promise
through the same Christ, Our Lord.
Amen.
THE SEVEN SORROWS OF MARY ROSARY (prayed by Franciscans for centuries, and whose concepts are the flip side of the coin of other already existing mysteries - the Finding of Jesus in the Temple is the Loss of Jesus in the Temple, etc). These give a more full picture of the other mysteries, for deeper meditation. After each mystery, in block parenthesese, will be the corresponding mystery of the traditional Rosary.
1. The Prophecy of Simeon -Luke 2:25-35 [part of the Presentation]
2. The Flight into Egypt -Matt. 2:13-15 [Birth of Jesus]
3. Loss of Jesus for Three Days -Luke 2:41-50 [Finding Jesus..]
4. Mary Meets Jesus on His Way to Calvary -Luke 23:27-31; John 19:17 [Carrying the Cross]
5. Crucifixion and Death of Jesus -John 19:25-30 [Crucifixion]
6. The Body of Jesus Being Taken From the Cross -Psalm 130; Luke 23:50-54; John 19:31-37 [Crucifixion]
7. The Burial of Jesus (Isaiah 53:8; Luke 23:50-56; John 19:38-42; Mark 15:40-47) [Crucifixion]
As mentioned in the Links, "Our Lady of Kibeho" is an excellent resource to deeply meditate on these mysteries while praying this unique Rosary, or the traditional ones (with these ideas and imagery painting a more detailed picture of those).
PRAY THE ROSARY DAILY FOR WORLD PEACE!
WALKING (OR JOGGING) WITH THE ROSARY AND CHAPLET
If you still are not sold on these two most critical daily prayers, you already know you have to keep your energy level up by regular exercise. While it is preferable to sit or kneel in quiet to deeply meditate, many of us have great trouble finding the time in a hectic day. Many do take time to jog or walk for exercise and health though (which is critical too!). Don't waste that opportunity to still "get in" your daily Rosary and Chaplet! In fact, the rhythmic pace of walking or even better - lightly jogging - greatly contributes to the rhythmic meditatative aspects of the repetitive prayers of the Rosary and Chaplet. This can be the best of all worlds. it is critical for our world as well. Prayer is powerful, especially this one!
One trick I learned is that since I do not want a Rosary dangling while running, I use my right hand for the first five of a decade and the left for the other. I simply jog with fists and stick out number one, then two, etc. on the right hand first, then the left. This becomes automatic and you deeply meditate instead of wondering where you are. You don't even have to think when you go right hand first, then left. I find a long street with almost no traffic or pedestrians to distract the meditations. If the meditation was not focused enough, I simply do that mystery again - of getting lost, with Christ, in the scene on which you are meditating.
Hope this helps! If you are already in a jogging group, start a Rosary and Chaplet jogging group! It will open up a whole new world for you and possibly help to save the world (both souls and the world itself from full blown war).

Are You Being Called to Become a Catholic Worker?

Justiceand Peace Shall Kiss On a silent retreat in 2005, Monica believes that the Holy Spirit enkindled in her the strong desire to open a 3-house Catholic Worker community for battered women and children of foreign decent (targeting the expanding Hispanic and Somali populations here) - Casa Guadalupe, Casa Romero, and Bakhita House. In telling others over the years, and after repeatedly hearing of the grave need, she embarked on this path, gathering co-Catholic Workers along the way. The original mission has since been modified to simply have women and children of foreign descent in any kind of desperate situation, but our soft spot in our hearts is particularly for those battered and abused ones. Our illegal Hispanic sisters particularly take abuse to not draw attention to law enforcement agencies who may deport them. The idea of a fourth house for food collection, storage and preparation has been an added inspiration for a steady supply of food since children will be involved. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us! Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, pray for a miracle to obtain these houses in a timely manner and to renovate them!

Whoa, Jesus and Mary at Your Right and Left

When you pray the Rosary daily, you may not feel the presence of Jesus and Mary while praying it (many times you probably will though). Afterwards, you look to the right, startled, whoa, there's Jesus; and to the left, whoa, there's Mary. There is no doubt they are standing right beside you and stay with you a long time. When you pray the Rosary daily, asking the Holy Spirit to pray with you and fill you, afterwards it is as though the Holy Spirit is and continues pouring and lavishing you with grace and with His very self, urging you to attempt to do His work in the world, to be His presence in the world. You walk away feeling more one with God.

Did Jesus Have a Sense of Humor?

Why did He call James and John "Sons of Thunder?" He did because they wanted to call down thunder upon a city that would not accept Christ. You can just picture Him saying, "Okay everyone, Sons of Thunder too, it's time to go." Also, He was thrilled when they returned after being sent out to preach, and came back with great stories.

Many Faces of Jesus: Modeling of Submission in His Baptism by St. John in the Jordan River

Appreciation of Grace-Filled Sacraments

Altar and Adoration of the Perfect Lamb, Jesus

The Unblemished Lamb of God in Sacred Scriptures

The Living Out of The Lamb Catholic Community Mission

The Lamb Catholic Community is a multi-house Columbus, Ohio intentional community design in the spirit of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, where we would be living out the Beatitudes, as Peter Maurin used to say, in addition to the following:

"In the Catholic Worker we must try to have the voluntary poverty of St. Francis, the charity of St. Vincent de Paul, the intellectual approach of St. Dominic, the easy conversations about things that matter of St. Philip Neri, the manual labor of St. Benedict."

We would live extremely simply in our dress, food, housing, furnishings and entertainment. We would share all or nearly all things in common and contribute our part in cooking, chores, responsibilities, expectations, and commitment. The primary purpose of this community, besides living like the early Church, is to provide hospitality, in the spirit of Dorothy Day, Peter Maurin, and the early Church communities for Hispanic battered women and children in two of the houses - Casa Guadalupe and Casa Romero, and those of Muslim and/or African decent - Bakhita House in a third house.The guests will have a time limit (such as one year), and hopefully will form their own little sub-communities with similar women to themselves, in order to move out near them, to help and support each other as a new “family” (babysitting, transportation, emergencies, etc).A fourth house is mainly to store, process (to prepare, can or freeze), and distribute the food - Loaves and Fishes House. It is difficult to obtain food donations from larger organizations because a house would be overwhelmed by the quantity that they want to get rid of at one time. Many companies will do only this or will not help at all. This way, this fourth house would hopefully have a couple of walk-in refrigerators and a walk-in freezer besides others, and large amounts of storage space for dry goods. It would be a choice for those to work in who do not feel comfortable working directly with the poor, but who want to lend a helping hand. It could be the safe meeting house for guests of the families (most will be coming from dangerous situations and we would not want to expose other families to danger), for daily mass, for Eucharistic Adoration (at times), for possible prayer meetings, for tutoring, for large meetings and/or gatherings (“Clarification of Thought,” in Peter Maurin’s design). This Loaves and Fishes House would be our main gathering place, so to speak, for larger groups. A fifth house, Lamb Catholic Worker Volunteer Corps House (531 Brookside Drive, Columbus, Ohio 43209) is modeled after the Jesuit Volunteer Corps design where people do not actually have the poor living with them, but commit to volunteering work directly with the poor and/or for the poor for a large portion of their time outside of this house. Most of this work will be with the Lamb Catholic Worker – with its planning, fundraising, renovating, maintenance, and eventually (and most importantly) with its guests and possibly former guests who still need support. The fourth house, Loaves and Fishes, will also oversee several "farm" gardens, or large city gardens, on and around the property, also in Peter Maurin’s design. These produce items would be canned in this house.Criteria for Enteringinto a Live-In Situation at The Lamb Catholic Community (*note-volunteers can come from all walks of life): -- Catholic or in the process of becoming Catholic --Preferrably has some service experience such as parish or other ministry (NET, SPO). religious training, Peace Corps, Jesuit Volunteer corps, Appalachian Project, etc., but this is not required --Has gone through “Protecting All God’s Children,” and has an FBI background check--Will make a commitment of at least 2-3 months, making promises in regards to the Catholic Worker Rule (rules, expectations), spiritual and personal holiness expectations, and participation Basically this will be similar to a religious order level of prayer, committment, and personal holiness. As a prayer base, a committment to…A minimum of 1 Hour of Prayer Daily which would include:§ Daily Mass§ The four Mysteries of the Rosary per week (Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious, and Luminous) – Can be done while doing other things such as dishes, driving, jogging, doing laundry, cleaning, etc.§ Catholic Worker Pledge and Prayer, Prayer to St. Joseph for Purity of body and mind, Catholic Worker Pledge of Purity said often§ Chaplet of Divine Mercy when possible (hopefully at least 3 times per week)§ Scripture meditation§ 1 Additional hour per week of Adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament (listening to our Lord). It is encouraged that this time not be on other prayers and reading, but in quiet listening to the still "quiet whisper" of the voice of the Lord, and conversation with our Lord, as He went off alone quite frequently to convene with the Father.§ Monthly - go to confession.Core members and volunteers would wear two outward signs of God and His grace: the St. Joseph cord for purity of mind, heart, and body (single: celibacy, married: chastity) and for a reminder to pray for the purity of others ; and of a Christian necklace of some kind (cross, crucifix, a fish (early church sign), a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit, etc).Please put prayerful reflection into this! Do not feel obligated because there are many other avenues to serve the poor. It is "a harsh and dreadful love compared to that in dreams," as Dorothy Day often quoted Dostoesvsky concerning the life lived with the poor. Aside from the poverty, it will be a more dangerous Catholic Worker than usual considering the people from whom these battered women and children are fleeing. The mission, as was Harriet Tubman's, is to bring our "sisters" to freedom. All of this requires a grounded, consistent prayer life and continuous connection to God.

Monsignor Marv Mottet

Msgr. Mottet promotes Blessed John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI's "Culture of Life" and "Culture of Pentecost." He holds fast to the newly coined, "Consistent Life Ethic" - also, "Consistent Ethic of Human Life," upholding every human life the world over from natural conception to natural death - all uniquely and lovingly created in God's image with sacredness.

Being There :Putting Yourself in the Rosary Scenes

PLEASE SEE THE ROSARY RELATED POSTS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LEFT MARGIN AS WELL

Joyful Mysteries

ANNUNCIATION (the fruit of meditating on this mystery: Humility)

-Mary's expectant "yes" and God allowing questioning as to how this can be done

-Greeting of Gabriel to Mary is the basis of the prayer, "Hail Mary," if anyone doubts the scriptural basis of awe and reverence for Mary

-What was Jesus' chromosonal pattern or DNA like under a microscope as it formed into cells, or divided?

-How could the God who encompasses all things be encompassed in a uterus, or become human by starting with the most tiny cells?

-a famout saint once said that the most astounding feat was not that God suffered and died for us, nor that He rose from the dead and opened Heaven - no, it was that He became a human

VISITATION (fruit: Love of neighbor)

-The famous "Magnificat" - "My soul doth magnify the Lord.."

-Mary was the first to truly know Jesus' power - as she carried Jesus in her abdomen, she knew he was not conceived of man, hence the praise and worship of God in her Magnificat

-How tricky and overwhelming to be in labor at age 14; to worry of dying in the desert if she gives birth on the way; no room as the time gets closer

- No bed to give birth in, but must give birth on the floor of a dirty stable (things may be high stress like this in our lives, but we can get through them too!); and childbirth without her mother

- What joy after the birth! Hearing the multitude of angels, seeing the shepherds, kings, gifts, etc.

PRESENTATION (fruit: Obedience)

-How Anna and Simeon's words must have stung (Luke 2:25-38) "He will be a sign of contradiction, a sword will pierce your [Mary's] heart, ...

THE FINDING OF JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

-This is poignant for anyone who has lost a child in public, particularly when you cannot find them or get to them for a period of time. You are frantic. Think of our fallen away Catholic relatives who have "lost" Jesus. Parents are panic-stricken, like St. Monica, who prayed untiringly for Augustine. Lord, help them find their way back to you

-No one can come to Jesus, "unless the Father draw him. What a priceless gift we have been given - that of our faith in God

-The thrill Jesus must have had to be "cut loose," so to speak, and impart wisdom and explanation to the holy men of the day at the Temple for three whole days!

SORROWFUL MYSTERIES

THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN (fruit: Sorrow for Sin)

-Picture His anguish over the torture that is about to happen. Have you ever had something coming the next day that you dreaded or agonized over? He fully understands human panic and anguish. "Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you." "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and those who are crushed in spirit, He saves."

-"Father take this cup away,..but not my will Yours be done"

THE SCOURGING AT THE PILLAR (fruit: Purity)

- What would it be like to be whipped with just two lashes over the same spot, once in your life - to know the level of torture that rips open sensitive skin, tearing it? Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in "The Passion of the Christ," passed out in pain on the set making the movie when the whip had gone around his apparatus and actually got him once

-"By His stripes, we are healed ..." Heal me, Lord, of all bad things I may think or do. Humble me, Lord

THE CROWNING OF THORNS (fruit: Courage)

-With stinging back laid open wide in searing pain, they put on blindfolds and struck him hard on the thorned head, 1 inch thorns digging into his skull; all while they mocked him and spit on him. It makes any humiliation you suffer for His name and for His teachings and Way, seem easy

-We take on blows to crowned thorn head when people - especially family and friends - say critical words of Christ's way that we try to live, especially in the Catholic Worker

CARRYING OF THE CROSS (fruit: Patience)

-He accepted the cross being handed to Him - Father help me accept my crosses you have for me

-How heavy - like dragging large logs uphill through a forest, inch by inch; and with such stinging wounds on His back, shoulders, arms, neck and head; legs quivering under such massive weight until giving out and everything painfully crashing down on Him

-How did He ever get back up for more of the same when He knew He couldn't carry it's massive weight? Leg first, then arms to carry, and more weight on the bloody skinless shoulders

-What did Jesus' face really look like? The Shroud of Turin, believed to be His facial outline, is a great place to start. "This is the people who long to see your face"

CRUCIFIXION (fruit: Perseverance)

-Excruciating - No split-second of relief- He couldn't pull up on His hands to relieve His feet nor rest on His feet to relieve His hands - everything stinging, throbbing, begging for a split second of relief. If you have ever had to dig a deep splinter out of your hand or a finger (or foot) and needed a minute to rest from the pain and soreness of digging it out, this excruciating pain had no rest; indeed, those most excruciating points of pain held up his entire body weight - constant irritation and rubbing of the open wounds! May we unite what little suffering we have to Christ on the cross

-How very, very hard the crucifier must have had to pound the heavy hammer onto the crude spike/nail again and again to get through the solide flesh of Jesus' doubled feet

-We cannot imagine the excruciating suffering - writhing in pain but not able to move without much more pain; irritation at the open wounds for hours, tugging from the full body weight

-Mary witnessing all of this! She stood at the foot of the Cross staring up at her Son, her once little boy, who was suffering in agony. She is at the foot of our crosses. She brings us to the Cross, to our source of life and freedom, her Son, Jesus

-One account has Jesus on the cross for SIX hours (Mark 16: 1-39). "It was 9:00 in the morning when they crucified Him," with the next verse being the inscription put above His head

-Two times the word "loudly or loud" were used to show His outcries of overwhelming anguish and despair (same Gospel), and over the physical torture (if you are a who has passed a full-sized kidney stone or given birth without pain killers, you come a hint nearer to this level of nerves being shot and crying out)

- How God the Father must have suffered too! How difficult to watch and experience!

-Seven last words, or sentences (I thirst, it is finished, etc)

-What did/does Jesus really look like? The Shroud of Turin is believed to be His actual facial features. "This is a people that long to see your face!"

GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

RESURRECTION (fruit: Faith)

-What state was His body in for the three days? God cannot fully die; did He descend to hell, as in one creed? What happened there?

-Was His body in a state of incorruption totally (like St. Margaret Josephine Bakhita) or in the process of corrupting, then fully restored?

-What was His first thought on coming back to life? What did it feel like? Or was He alive always, outside His body, then flew back in, so to speak?

-Did He dance around, or simply stand in awe?

-On the beach making a fire and laughing to Himself as He asks them to throw the net again; cooking the breakfast fish for them

- The road to Emmaus walk and breaking of bread

- Suddenly appearing, "Peace be with you," they being startled, and He eating a piece of fish to prove it was Him and not a ghost

-Putting my own hands into His hand wounds, touching them like Thomas

-"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you, ..." (Jn. 14:27) Do we receive and solely be this peace to the world, His peace? Or are we channels of the opposite?

-Jesus telling them"But when he comes, the spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth." (Jn. 16:12)

-Picture gazing into His resurrected face, His eyes, ... one look would flood you with excitement and perspective of this fleeting life and the power of God if we follow Him and His ways alone, whatever He should want. Who else has power over life and death? In the end, after it all, the Lamb love triumphs.

ASCENSION (fruit: Hope)

-Jesus telling them that the Holy Spirit will come to them and stay until the end of time, guiding, directing, giving them power

-He floated up, then did He pick up speed, going past this and that like a rocket?

- What did the first split second of heaven feel like to Him?

- What was the clamor like in heaven receiving Him, especially knowing how the angels celebrated at His birth! And this after suffering in such loneliness, pain, and despair; what a celebration!

-Picture what Jesus looks like now, radiating in power and light (brighter than the Transfiguration): one look at Him having risen would clear away any doubt, pain, worry

-What did the Apostles think as they are watching Him float up into the sky, still looking when the angel came to speak? Can you imagine that sight! Nothing could contain you

THE DESCENT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT (fruit: Love of God) -Upper room, scared and wondering if they are next - Jesus coming through the wall; "Peace be with you," and breathing on them

-The apostles' praise and openness to the Spirit, then the whole vast assembly filled with the Spirit, caught up in praising and worshipping God, speaking in tongues; filled with His loving spirit toward all of many tongues; getting a taste of heaven

THE ASSUMPTION OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER TO HEAVEN (fruit: Grace of a Good Death)

-How tenderly God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit took their precious Mary by the hand, after all that she had been through, and brought her to heaven

-What a clamor when Mary set one foot in Heaven!

-Mary was so special that she was a pre-conceived design, with God planning for her creation before she even was conceived, and espoused her like no other human being

THE CORONATION OF MARY (fruit: Trust in Mary's Intercession)

-What is going on with Mary now in heaven? What is she doing?

LUMINOUS MYSTERIES

BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (fruit: Openness to the Holy Spirit)

-How humble of our God to go through religious ritual, bowing His head down to be baptized by a man - what a great role model of humility in this modern, proud, and independent age!

-Put yourself in St. John the Baptist's position of pouring water over Jesus' humbled, bowed down hair on His head

-"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased," - don't we want to also be that beloved child, making Him proud and well-pleased with us too?

Wedding Feast at Cana (fruit: to Jesus Through Mary)

-Mary, the great elbow nudger! "They need more wine;" "Women, what concern is that of mine, my hour has not yet come;" "Do whatever He tells you;" "Fill these jars, ..."

PROCLAMATION OF THE KINGDOM (fruit: Conversion and Trust in God)

-How did these apostles walk away from their lives - from everything and everyone familiar! Dropping their nets, leaving their tax post, or warm homes - and just follow Jesus?

-What about the rich young man starved to do more, but when asked to sell and and come follow Jesus, he left. What adventure he missed! And for his comfortable former way!

-Look how OLD Jesus was when He started all this! Thirty years old when life expectancy was probably 45! It's never too late

-He stayed up all night on the mountain in prayer before setting off to call the specific apostles for His work; so rooted in prayer always first; what a great role model! Jesus, help us to pray before everything major and even minor in our lives. Gather those who you call to The Lamb Catholic Community, Lord, as well as to all your other works of all kinds throughout the world!

TRANSFIGURATION (fruit: Desire for Holiness)

- One look at Him would have told them He is God; if He was that radiant then, how must He be in heaven?

-"This is my beloved Son, listen to Him."

INSTITUTION OF THE HOLY EUCHARIST (fruit: Adoration)

-"Unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of man and drink of His blood, you shall not have life within you. For My flesh is real food and My blood real drink." Many left Him over this, and He turneds to the apostles and said: "Will you leave Me too?" And Peter answered, "Master, where will we go? You have the words of everlasting life" -The tenderness of Jesus bent down washing your feet at the last supper, the top of His hair, His hands turning your feet this way then that, ... "Whoever wishes to be first must be servant to all"

-With what heavy, heavy arms He held out the bread, making it into His body - the agony in the garden minutes away. How did He lovingly think of them and future generations when His life was at such risk that very night?

-What humility of God to have become and continue to become a simple substance like bread then and through all times, over and over and over again

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Monsignor Marv Mottet

Monsignor Marv Mottet, a retired diocesan priest from Davenport, Iowa, is cofounder, along with Rev. Richard McSorley, S.J., of the St. Francis Catholic Worker Community in Washington, D.C. One house, under a new name, celebrated its 30th anniversary Dec. 16, 2011 and the other was sold to buy a farm and has continued giving retreats for the homeless with the original Catholic Worker people. He has been visited by Blessed Mother Teresa and has cofounded many organizations serving the poorest in our country. At the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) from 1978-1985, he headed the Campaign for Human Development. He has spent nearly his entire priesthood "trying to marry the charismatic movement and peace and social justice issues (including pro-life, anti-abortion)," more recently emphasizing Blessed John Paul II's promotion of a "Culture of Life" and a "Culture of Pentecost."